[Indic-computing-users] SPIDER: BBC Urdu Online 'the best' (fwd)

[Frederick N. (FN) <fr...@by...>]

Thanks to Zunaira Durrani for sending this in. FN

---------- Forwarded message ----------

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2831075.stm

BBC Urdu Online 'the best'
By Umber Khairi
BBC Urdu Online

The team get messages from all around the world
BBC's Urdu news site, BBCurdu.com, has just been ranked the world's best
Urdu website by South Asia's leading internet magazine, Spider.

The March issue of Spider carried out a survey of Urdu sites to rank the top
10 websites.

BBCUrdu.com shared the honour with the news daily Jang's internet site,
jang.com.

Spider says BBCUrdu is "remarkable - one of the best news and entertainment
sites and gives a high standard content in Urdu".

All over the world

When BBCUrdu was launched last year, it was hailed as something that would
prove to be a landmark in Urdu online publishing.


"Remarkable, one of the best sites," was the judges' verdict

More than a year later, the news site logs thousands of hits 24 hours a day.

It now ranks as the most successful of the BBC's South Asia language news
sites.

It gets e-mails from readers from countries as far apart as Finland and
Japan, as well as from remote areas of Pakistan.

"It is really gratifying," says BBCUrdu's editor Mohammed Hanif.

"Since Urdu is just developing on the web, it is truly exciting to be part
of the whole process."

Variety of choice

The Spider survey gives an interesting picture of Urdu publishing on the
web.

Of the top 10 sites it lists, two are Urdu dailies (Jang and Ausaf), and
three are portals.

One offers Urdu and other regional language downloads (Liwal).

One is a bilingual news site originating from the US (Urdu Times), and one
offers Urdu tutorials, dictionaries and Urdu website building skills
(Ukindia).